Julie Benz on No Ordinary Family (& Dexter, Of Course)

A few weeks into fall's stellar TV lineup, we've checked in with some of our favorite stars to see what's been fun, what's been hard & what we have to look forward to. Today it's Julie Benz , who stars on ABC's No Ordinary Family. Catch it tonight at 8PM!

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ELLE: Your character, Stephanie Powell, is a workaholic scientist and a wife and mother of two. Then she develops super speed. What a great skill for a working mom to have!
JB: Any woman, to be honest! And what comes along with super speed is super metabolism, which means she can eat whatever she wants!

ELLE: That's the ultimate fantasy.JB: It's a total fantasy! I love the character so much!

ELLE: Is there one thing in the show viewers should be looking forward to? Something that you think they'll respond to really well?JB: The style and tone of the show reflects movies like Spider-Man. It's something the whole family can sit down and watch together. It has everything from drama, action, and comedy. I call it the dramactiomedy. And it's all very uplifting, especially after quite a few years of doom-and-gloom television. So it's the spirit of the show I love. I hope that's what America wants to see right now. I know that's what I want to see.

ELLE: What shows are you looking forward to watching this fall?
JB: I'm a Modern Family junkie. I mean, that show is always on my TiVo. And of course, I'll be watching Dexter. I'm still a huge fan of the show still and I'm looking forward to seeing how Rita's death affects Dexter.

ELLE: You were in the pilot in flashbacks. Will you be returning more as a ghost, like Dexter's dad Harry?JB: Rita's presence will be felt through out the season, however I will not be there. Rita doesn't fit as a ghost in Dexter's life. Harry knew the truth about him, but Rita was his cover—I always say Harry is the internal and Rita was the external.

ELLE: When did you know that you were going to die in the finale? Did they give you a warning?
JB: They gave me an hour before they put out the script. They only told the people who needed to know. The crew didn't know. It was very, very difficult. My first instinct, of course, was: Oh my God, I just lost my job! And then I thought of Rita. She was such an innocent, and then to be so brutally murdered—it was painful for me. And the image we created of Rita in a tub of her blood—I still haven't watched it. There was no other character they could have killed that would have had that impact.